(On December 20th Everlasting Spew will release the second album by the Italian death metal band Becerus, and in anticipation of that event our contributor Zoltar conducted the following highly entertaining interview with Becerus guitarist Giorgio Trombino.)
Granted, death metal can be smart. But you can add as many lengthy lyrics and concepts about quantum physics or ancient philosophy as you want, and at the end of the day, nothing beats good ol’ in-your-face and fuck-good-taste death freakin’ metal, innit?
To those willing to go back to the stone age, Becerus would be more than happy to provide the soundtrack to your journey while banging two stones together. Three years ago, their debut Homo Homini Brutus proved to be one of those guilty pleasures for anybody looking for that kind of US thrash-infused early ’90s inspired death metal à la Broken Hope, full of palm-muting riffs and sudden blasts which don’t even pretend to be looking for an excuse to practice what they preach.
Although ‘preach’ might not be the most fitting word here as their first album bore a massive ‘no fucking lyrics’ stamped all over its inside booklet, with Balatonizer vocalist Mario Musumeci using his larynx as an actual instrument to convey strange, menacing sounds instead of delivering a so-called message.
Unsurprisingly, due on December 20th in the ever-reliable Everlasting Spew imprint, their new album Troglodyte – whose title song premiered on NCS last October – is as ruthless and savage, yet not short of rhythmic left turns and groove either. Proof that those Sicilians may not be as caveman-like as they want you to believe, even if guitarist Giorgio Trombino, former Haemophagus and Morbo and now steering both Assumption and Bottomless, enjoys covering his tracks and fucking around…
Giorgio, what was the starting point for BECERUS? Just the urge to play death metal, without any clear concept so to speak initially? Or was it designed from the start to become what it became?
I’ve known Mario and Paul Bicipitus for a long time. We’ve grunted in the same death metal scene of Palermo, Sicily, which is where Mario’s killer band BALATONIZER has been crushing skulls since the second half of the ’90s. I was (and still am) in a shitload of bands. As for Paul, well… who knows anything about him anyway?
Back to your question: knowing us, you’d expect nothing else really. Our “concept”, so to speak, was crystal clear since day one. To quote INCUBUS – THE death metal band – it was a case of certain accuracy. We knew we just had to be vile, brutal, and ignorant as fuck.
Would it be fair to say that you sometimes walk on the thin line separating genuine homage from actual parody?
We know absolutely nothing. We leave words to journalists and other knowledgeable folks. What’s parody? Can you actually eat it, smash it, or take a dump on it?
Did you guys decide not to have actual lyrics after trying – and failing – to come up with songs titled like, say, ‘Chapter For Not Being Hung Upside Down On A Stake In the Underworld And Made to Eat Feces By The Four Apes’ like NILE and lyrics written in ancient Egyptian?
I remember talking to Mario, asking what we should do with lyrics and all that stuff while we were still writing our first LP, Homo Homini Brutus. He said, “Well, you can go on and write some if you want, but I won’t sing them. There’s nothing I want to express!” That sounded so good to me. Like, to hell with that. Who needs them anyway? We’ll do without and dwell forever in our crass idleness. Early NILE were really good but their lyrical style is too much cultivated for our low standards.
Does this mean that all vocal lines on the album are fully improvised?
Absolutely NO. Let’s make this clear once and for all: there’s no improvisation in BECERUS, by any means. Mario hones his rhythm patterns for months before studio time is on. He makes sure everything flows on a metrical level and he works hard to be precise, yet very vulgar and chimp-like. Stupidity takes time to perfect.
Since there are no lyrics, how do you pick the song titles? What should one learn off a song like, say, ‘Pathetic Bovine Humor’?
Song titles help our tiny little brains compile the album tracklist. Plus, we “think” they give the listener an idea of what they’re all about. They’re just there to set the mood and tie the fucking room together.
If I understood well, one of you is living in northern Italy and the other one in Sicily? If so, how do you manage to get together? Is it only an online collaboration?
The band consists of three people, so yeah, I live in Veneto, Northern Italy, while Mario and Paul live in Palermo. We only get to meet once in a while when I’m in Palermo to visit my family, but then we just drink beers and talk about nothing. There’s no music involved.
As far as songwriting is concerned, it’s basically me and Paul handling riffs, drum parts, and song structures while Mario provides us with some primitive but decisive inputs. Once the songs are 100% approved Mario moves on to his growl and scream arrangements.
Is your ‘drummer’ related to the anonymous fellas who played on CENTINEX’s Reflections or most MORTICIAN works?
Good one! I hope Paul won’t read your question, though, for he might take it quite badly. Let sleeping drummers lie… anyway, Paul is as real as his punishing blast beats, but chances are you’ll never get to see him. He’s extremely shy and he refuses to appear in our photo sessions, which is too bad being the human beast he is. We always say that he looks a bit like the Mighty Becer but I got a feeling that he’s not into these kind of jokes – at all.
You know what? He’s so introverted and reclusive that neither me nor Mario know a lot about him. He does what he must and rarely complains. As long as he keeps punishing his drum skins the way he does, we are ok with whatever.
You’re saying you’re playing ‘caveman death metal’. What would you answer to those who suggest this label fits ultra-brutal bands like LAST DAYS OF HUMANITY more? I mean, don’t get me wrong, your style of classic death metal is pretty brutal but it’s far catchier and easy-going compared to LDOH, innit?
Wait, wait: we NEVER, ever said we play caveman death metal. That is a recent, press-friendly genre. We just play death metal the only way we know it, i.e., merciless, relentless, sick, and primitive. We’ve been doing this for far too long to even care about whatever new label’s being made up by some trendy mogul in 2024.
1987-1994 USA death metal is the fuel to our fire, and I mean everything from MORGUE to RESURRECTION, AMON, DEICIDE, SADISTIC INTENT, BAPHOMET, MORBID ANGEL, MONSTROSITY, SKELETAL EARTH, CANNIBAL CORPSE (Barnes era for me, Fisher era for Mario), AUTOPSY, REVENANT, ACCIDENTAL SUICIDE, TIMEGHOUL, HUMAN REMAINS, early SUFFOCATION and so many others.
You’ll also hear some degree of influence from selected EU and Scandinavian acts of old such as SEANCE, early SINISTER, UTUMNO, first ATROCITY LP, even people like CORONER and some others. The list goes on forever but LAST DAYS OF HUMANITY aren’t featured on it because they’re lame. All of the above minus the latter are DEATH METAL to us and we don’t give a fuck about the rest. Aside from that, we listen to a lot of classic heavy metal and even sleaze/glam rock of old.
On the other hand, are your ’90s US death metal influences your saving grace? Meaning they urged you to use groove and thrashier riffs…
Using skank beats – or tupa tupas, or whatever you call them – doesn’t make you any thrashier than any other real old school death metal band. Original death metal had plenty of tupa tupas and that’s because it had originated from thrash metal, which is death metal’s hardcore uncle, but then some day, brutal death metal came in to spoil the party and erase all of that, and that’s shit.
We were never for the cyber-ultra-technical stuff, we get bored easily. There have to be big killer riffs, simple stuff you can cling onto and hum to. If you listen carefully to our goat crap you’ll see that recognizable riffs and more psychotic sections intertwine continously.
Is the Becer we can see on the cover artwork of your two albums more or less your own mascot, your own Eddie if you will, and very representative of your concept?
Yeah. He’s our Eddie, only poorer and fatter!
What is your definition of a troglodyte and how much is it related to BECERUS, to the point where you decided to use it as the title of this new album?
A troglodyte is a primitive being who fights its way through a forest of modern metalheads. It is against everything, so much so that he only wishes to be left alone in his smelly cave. It’s at peace with its sweet, cherished isolation but it’ll CRUSH ALL OPPOSITION at will. If you feel like you belong to this kind then we can be allies in our death metal battle. We can be as strong as the Mighty Becer’s biceps. We can join as one! STAND UP!!!
Would you say that BECERUS is sort of like a counterreaction to your main band ASSUMPTION, where everything is serious, so to speak, and dark?
I wouldn’t say so. BECERUS were never meant to be a reaction to anything, really. ASSUMPTION are indeed a strange, psychedelic and mentally demanding band, whereas BECERUS allow us to go full throttle and do whatever we like within the narrow limits of our small goat house.
What’s next for you guys?
We are always crawling backwards, so our past is our future. We are constantly evolving as we try to be the least updated version of ourselves. We are here for all those who feel like contemporary death metal is getting too philosophical and abstract. These people must know they have a safe place here.
Yes, we’re talking to you! COME ON AND THROW A PENNY IN OUR NEVER-ENDING WELL! The Mighty Becer will never let you down! GRUNT WITH US!!!
PRE-ORDER TROGLODYTE:
https://www.everlastingspew.com
https://everlastingspew.bandcamp.com/album/troglodyte
FOLLOW BECERUS:
https://www.facebook.com/becerus
https://becerus.bandcamp.com/